More Leftists Let Their Masks Slip, Admit They Want Big Tax Hikes on the Middle Class

While I disagree with statists, I sometimes admire their discipline. They are very good at staying “on message.”

I am 100 percent confident, for instance, that they intend big tax hikes on the middle class, even though they would piously swear an oath to the contrary. Indeed, I suspect more than 90 percent of them secretly would like a value-added tax.

It’s not that they necessarily dislike ordinary people, but privately they understand that you can’t finance big government by taxing rich people.

So it makes sense that they want to screw the middle class, but it’s also obvious that they don’t want to admit this is their goal. As such, it’s always interesting and revealing when folks on the left slip up and admit their true intentions.

That plan will have to include tax increases beyond just the wealthiest households, although that is the right place to start. But what should happen next? …The best thing to do, once the economic recovery is solidly under way, is to simply let the Bush tax cuts expire and return to the tax structure that prevailed under Bill Clinton. …I’d urge Democrats to be forthright with the fact that we’re way below where we need to be in terms of revenue collection.

…it’s impossible to tackle the federal debt by taxing only the wealthy. …the middle class is going to have to pay more…the only way to achieve tax reform with a reasonable increase in revenue is to reset everyone’s rates at Clinton-era levels.

Keep in mind, by the way, that these proposals are just the tip of the iceberg. Once tax rates are pushed back to 2000 levels, then the drumbeat will sound for additional tax hikes.

“The middle class is an easy target”

And, sooner or later, the left will push for its big goal of a value-added tax.

But the main point of this post is to explain that class-warfare taxes on the rich are a real threat, but they’re also just the camel’s nose under the tent. The left’s real goal is to fleece the middle class.

And the dirty little secret about European tax policy is that taxes on the rich are about the same on both sides of the Atlantic. The reason government is so much bigger in Europe is that they ransack the middle class.

36 Responses

The tax on working people (AKA the ‘middle class’) has ALWAYS been the goal of progressives. The government will never collect enough money from the really rich (and I will leave that term undefined except to say that it is less than 1%). The rich pay tax lawyers and accountants $1000 an hour to minimize their taxes. They pay lobbyists to have tax shelters enacted. Lastly, they pay politicians in campaign donations to make sure they are largely untouched in terms of taxes. Progressives have always done their best to make a good imitation of the Sheriff of Nottingham (the tax collector in the fable of Robin Hood)

There is a simple solution to this problem that would satisfy both parties by lowering taxes and increasing revenue, with all earning income paying their FAIR SHARE.
The first measure that needs to take place is eliminating the current tax code. The IRS’s 8,000 page conundrum is confusing and unnecessary. It also cost the tax payers millions per year to hire someone to do their taxes for them, attempting to find all tax breaks and deductions authorized under the current code. Second, a more simplified tax system would be put in place allowing the tax payer to submit their taxes on one form. There would be no deductions, breaks, or credits. The tax payer would just simply pay. Under this system, the tax payer would not have to worry about being audited and the Government would not have to spend money conducting them. The current progressive tax brackets would be maintained, though unfair, but the tax percentage would be lowered and the 50% that do not pay taxes would pay a low rate, as low as 5%.
Below is an example of the suggested tax rates. The statistics are formulated from the IRS website. Because of their failure to update tax statistics, the information was taken from the 2009 tax year.
>5 million-25% 50-75,000-15%
1-5 million-23% 40-50,000-14%
500,000-1 milllion-21% 30-40,000-12%
200-500,000-19% 25-30,000-10%
100-200,000-17% 20-25,000-8%
75-100,000-16% <20,000-5%
I don’t believe any one individual or business should be taxed more than 25%. According to the revenue from Individual Income Taxes for the Federal Government in 2009, 1.1 trillion was reported. Under the system above, 1.2 trillion was generated with lower taxes.

Hence, the French Steve Jobs cannot find motivated middle class Frenchmen in enough supply to build a worldwide competitive company, since in flat middle class effort-reward France the marginal motivation to be better is low.
Hence, you never heard of the French Steve jobs, though there is probably someone in France both smart and motivated enough to try to create an Apple inc even if the people will extract their fare share. Yes, there are fewer such people in flatter effort-reward France but they do exist. But they will never find a motivated enough middle class to compete internationally. And this is where America is going. The fact that about half of americans still want to go there, means that the point of no return has passed.

Reblogged this on willy ruffian and commented:
the notion of making the rich “pay their fair share” has always struck me as either ridiculous or a well crafted deception. You could tax the rich at 100 percent and not even dent the national debt. The middle class and the poor have the bulk of the national wealth because of their numbers. They will {and always have had to}make the payments in the end.

I don’t think that most leftists are that hypocritical. While some, like for example Barney Frank seem just too intelligent to honestly believe in their public positions, most, especially HopNChange voters do believe that a small minority can be taxed into collective American prosperity. The world renowned American naïveté and lack of understanding in international matters only means that Americans will have to learn from experience what every European is learning or will soon learn: That the number and amount to which people are willing to sacrifice their personal and family rewards from exceptional work, to benefit distant others, is very limited But alas this is a one way street. The lesson may eventually be learned, but the desperation that settles in during decline makes voters support ever more destructive policies. It will end badly. The writing is on the wall. In practical terms: Teach your children to be mobile international citizens.

[…] taxes, not just the so-called rich. So at least he’s being honest, unlike a lot of statists (click here for a list of honest leftists who admit you can’t finance big government without screwing the […]

Patriot 70 – I agree with one added stipulation. Streamline the tax system further by reducing duplication of effort. We should disband the IRS as a personal tax collection department and pay all of our tax to the state franchise tax boards. They in turn would send the state’s portion of the Fed Budget to Washington based on population. In any business merger the first thing that is done is consolidation of similar functions to save money. Not only would you be able to do your taxes on one page, you would only have to provide it to one tax agency.

[…] taxes, not just the so-called rich. So at least he’s being honest, unlike a lot of statists (click here for a list of honest leftists who admit you can’t finance big government without screwing the […]

[…] taxes, not just the so-called rich. So at least he’s being honest, unlike a lot of statists (click here for a list of honest leftists who admit you can’t finance big government without screwing the […]